TRANSCRIPT: Patriots Head Coach Jerod Mayo Post-Draft Press Conference
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(Jerod Mayo opened this press conference offering the team’s condolences for former Patriot Korey Cunningham, who passed away this past week, along with draft prospect A.J. Simon, who visited the team on a 30 visit but also passed away. “It’s a reminder of the fragility of life,” said Mayo. “And we as an organization just want to offer our condolences to the families.”)
On what he can tell us about Joe Milton and how he envisions him fitting in:
“We’re in the business of trying to get good football players through the door,and Milton happens to be one of them. Obviously, he understands we took a quarterback at three in Drake [Maye]. One thing that we preach is competition. Everything’s about competition and nothing is given. All of it’s earned and that’s how we thought about the process.”
On the QB position, the fact they have five QBs and if they envision keeping five QBs on the roster, or if it’s a scenario where they could move someone:
“That’s yet to be seen. At this current time, we’re still on the phone right now with potential free agents coming up here soon. So we’ll see how all the dominoes kind of play out. But at the same time, you want to have a strong group. You want to have a strong room and I would say the way it looks now, we have a very strong room.”
On the left tackle position and that Wolf said previously Chukwuma Okorafor would probably be the left tackle, and the fact that the two players they drafted, what they’ve seen being able to make that transition:
“I think that’s a great question. We feel pretty good about the situation on the outside. Obviously, a lot of people, there’ll still be movement as we continue to go through the process. What I will say is all of those guys, they do offer some flexibility to move from right to left but we’ll at the same time, we’ve got to see when we put the pads on.”
On the receivers they took and what they bring to the room:
“I’ll start with Pope. He’s one of those guys that before we even get to the main responsibility of a receiver as far as get open, catch the ball, and run with it, he’s one of those guys that isn’t afraid to do the dirty work. When we talk abuot the dirty work, obviously, we have a good set of backs. But sometimes you need those receivers to come in there and kind of dig out support and he does that at a very high level. Now, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of Polk. He’s one of those guys who is a smooth route runner, has good hands, can do a lot of different things, and he’s smart. And that the one thing that we covet around here is flexible, can play in different spots, and I’m excited to really see him out there.”
“And then really when you talk about Javon, you talk about run after catch. The run after catch, this guy’s aggressive. And I would say, Bake, is all about … he’s all ball. He’s all ball, which I can appreciate. You can see the passion come through when you watch him on film, so two guys obviously have different skillsets, but, at the same time, will help our team going forward.”
On Joe Milton, if they see him as just a QB or if they could see him helping out in other places:
“We’ll have to see how that plays out once we put the pads on, but we drafted him as a quarterback.”
On the fact there was only one defensive player taken and if he had a say:
“[Laughs] You know, I had to take off my defensive hat and put on my head coaching hat. We had more holes on the offensive side of the ball. I mean, you guys knew that. Defensively we feel pretty good about the players that we have and we feel good about some of those players taking a leap here in their second and third year. So, we’re pretty comfortable about that. At the same time, we’ll continue to add pieces as we go through the process.”
On if he was pleased with how the collaborative process worked this time:
“Yeah, I thought it was great. I thought it was great. At the very beginning, we gave the coaches an opportunity to look at a group of guys and to grade them. The coaches, they actually wrote reports, so it was a good professional development thing for those guys. And then, honestly, I would say, overall, the draft room was very cohesive. Everyone was on the same page. There were tough discussions that had to be made, but at the same time, we all felt pretty good – or feel pretty good – about the haul that we just brought in.”
On when they went down for Drake Maye’s meeting, the fact it was significant given the number of people there and if he can offer any insight:
“I would say before we even meet with those guys at their pro days, there’s been years of exposure to these guys from our scouting department. So, once you start to consolidate all that information, for me and for Eliot, we kind of see them at the backend of the evaluation process. But we have people in the room that have been working on these guys for a long time that really understand the character and the development that they had at the college level hoping that we can talk about the ceiling, ‘Look, this guy’s just getting started and his ceiling is relatively high.’ So, I hate to keep saying the collaborative approach, but that’s exactly what it is where you have an area scout who identifies a talented player, brings him to the table, and then you track that guy until you get to the third pick.”
On if he can tell us who that area scout was for Drake Maye:
“That’s an Eliot [Wolf], [Matt] Groh question.”
On the Layden Robinson question, if he sees him with position flexibility, or if they have existing players who maybe don’t fit what Alex Van Pelt and the coaches are looking for:
“I’ll kind of answer that question the same way I answered the Milton question where we’re in the business of bringing in good players and breeding competition. So, some of those guys you spoke about that you see as true guards currently on our roster, those guys have flexibility as well. So, when it’s all said and done, we want to put the best five guys out there and see what happens.”
On drafting Marcellas Dial and if they have a position in mind since he’s played both defensive back and safety:
“We see him as a versatile player, a guy that can do it all. And honestly, we were so excited to get him. We were kind of nervous that he was going to come off the board. But his versatility, as you guys know, we covet that and can’t wait to see him on the field.”
On the offensive selections and the way the Packers do things, and what he’s seen from his coaches now that so many new players will be working with them:
“I think that’s a great question Greg [Bedard]. First and foremost, I would say we brought in 17 new coaches this year. One of the things, or one of the criteria, that we always make sure that these guys will check the box with is just [being] able to relate to the players. I think that’s a huge thing, especially with the generation of players we have right now. Now, to your point, a lot of offensive players, a lot of quarterbacks in the room right now at this current time, but at the same time, I would say we have coaches where you can still get that one-to-one type of coaching. And look, we’re trying to coach together, but at the same time, Alex Van Pelt is going to run that offense. I have nothing but faith in him and McAdoo and the rest of the guys over there to get it done on the offensive side of the ball.”
On this being his first draft and the transition from a position coach to head coach:
“I thought it was great. Honestly, even early in my coaching career, Bill [Belichick] used to let the coaches evaluate the players as well, and we would practice writing reports and I always … I felt some type of way being stuck with the linebackers, so I would try to look at all the defensive positions. As soon as I put the head coaching hat on, now you’re looking at all the spots, including kickers and punters. It’s been nothing but a learning experience for me. We’ll see how this crop kind of turns out. but I’m excited about the players that we have, the players that we chose, and we’ll see how we can develop those guys.”
On how his first draft experience was:
“It was great. It was great. A lot of people in the room. A lot of good conversation, and hopefully a lot of good players. Look, right now, everyone feels pretty good but we’ll see as we continue to go down this journey what it looks like.”
On him saying Javon Baker “goes all ball”, considering how last year went and the fact that was missing, if that was something they looked for:
“Honestly, we have leaders on the offensive side of the ball, and I would also say some of the additions, K.J. [Osborne], even Kendrick Bourne, those guys provide some leadership in that room. At the same time we wanted to draft good players. You can help but turn on a UCF game and see that this guy really loves ball. The way he runs, the way he’s able to run routes. He’s a good player.”
On if he feels looking back on all seven rounds, if he feels like they were able to get the players who were at the top of their board:
“Absolutely. I’m very excited about the players we selected. Look, once again, we had our holes, we tried to fill those with good players, and then it got to a point where it’s like, ‘All right, let’s just take the best available player.’ So it was kind of a mix of philosophy. ‘Let’s make sure we get the best player at this spot,’ and then ‘Let’s just take the best player off the board.’ So I thought it was a great process, but, once again, you guys will judge us on this one in a couple of years, probably a couple of months, honestly.”
On the benefit of all the people they had in the room:
“The benefit is that we’ve all had different exposures to that individual. So even when we bring people in on a 30 visit, they meet with everyone. Not just coaches, not just scouts, they meet with Nancy Meier, they meet with the people in the lunch room. They meet with the strength and conditioning coach, and then you try and consolidate all those opinions that really try to figure out who this guy really is. I thought it was a great and obviously, picking at three – hopefully we never have to pick at three again – people were excited to be in the room and see it come to fruition.”
On whether or not that many people are in the room and if they’re chiming in:
“No, not at all. Look, you bring in the scout that’s watched him over the course of his college career. You want the coordinators in there, they were in there for every single pick, sometimes you bring in position coaches who also have a different opinion. But the rest of those guys, they type up their reports, and boom, that’s what it is, and we go. So once you get to the conversation piece, or you’re five picks away, now it’s like, ‘All right, let’s shrink this down, l’ts select who we all see as a good player.'”
On Wolf saying that Wallace can flip over from right to left and his opinion – having played with Matt Light, who struggled at right tackle, and what gives him the believe Wallace can play there:
“Honestly, how I got comfortable with him. Look, I love the way that he plays, but after having conversations with Van Pelt, Scotty Peters and that group and [assistant offensive line coach Robert] Kugler, they were very confident that this guy could play on both sides. So I have to have confidence that I picked the right people to evaluate or project what this guy can do going forward. I’m not into micromanaging or anything like that. If the offensive coordinator and the offensive line coach say, ‘Hey, this guy can do X, Y, and Z,’ all right, I’ll take it in, but at the end of the day, someone has to make that decision, which is me, but I already made the decision that we picked some good coaches.”
On if there were other factors aside from the numbers, or from Caedan, that fatored in:
“Yes, it’s just the overall athleticism when you watch the game film. It’s one thing to run around in your shorts and show your athleticism. It’s another when you watch the game film that this guy loves ball, and he can do a multitude of things.”
On Bob Bicknell being on his staff, and his brother being on North Carolina’s staff in 2022 and whether he tapped into that ahead of taking Maye:
“I personally did not have those conversations and I can’t speak to Eliot and Groh and his staff. I spoke to Mack Brown and it was a glowing recommendation, and we’re very excited, very happy to get him in the building.”
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(Editor’s Note: This transcript is done via the available footage and is subject to typos. If you spot something, please take a moment to let me know in the comments below.)
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